The
freight ship "Server" ran aground at Fedje during the early hours of
Saturday 13 january 2007. An estimated 300 tons of crude oil leaked out
causing something of a catastrophe for the local birdlife. Smaller
quantities of diesel were also discharged into the sea. Strong winds
and heavy seas have dispersed the oil over a large area and the effects
on the local birdlife are already being felt - the first fatalities
have already been recorded.

Oiled gulls were seen in Øygarden during the course of
Saturday morning, more on Sunday when organised counts took place. I
was not able to partake in the counts on the Sunday but was
out on Monday 15 January to check a few chosen localities. The scale of the
disaster is obviously increasing as time goes by and the experience was
progressively more harrowing as the day progressed.

Øygarden is home to large numbers of wintering seaduck and
it is already obvious that a large number of these will be
affected.

Outside my house
at least 40 of the 200 gulls on Husvatnet, Tjeldstø were
oiled. At Solberg I saw no oil in the sea but several of the
Long-tailed Duck present were obviously oiled - it was hard to evaluate
as conditions were far from easy with strong winds and heavy
seas hampering observations. Several more oiled gulls were observed
here.

Solberg
, 15 January 2007

Next stop was Alvheim
where the first Black Guillemot I have seen this year was hauled up on
the rocks, desparately trying to clean the oil off its plumage. A
patrolling White-tailed Eagle spotted it and immediately moved in for
the kill, stooping at the unlucky auk which leapt into the sea to avoid
capture. Amazingly the auk surfaced with a small fish in its beak, but
was obviously struggling with the waterproofing of its plumage. Other
oiled birds here included Eiders and more gulls.

Hunting White-tailed Eagle, Alvheim

One can only wonder what
the effect of this oil spill will be on the local eagle population -
they will have easy pickings during the next week or so but will surely
run the risk of becoming oiled or even ingesting it as they feed on the
carcasses of gulls, ducks and auks. One can only pray that these
fantastic birds do not also become victims of this disaster.

The stink of diesel and oil was overwhelming at Svellingen - the shore
was coated with a thick layer of oil and the sea was covered with a
thin film of pollution. No sign of any attempts to clean up the area
were evident and virtually all the birds seen here were covered in
black oil. At least 15 Long-tailed Duck, two Eiders, a Common Scoter,
two Red-breasted Merganser and a Common Guillemot are all doomed to a
slow and painful death unless efforts are made to catch these
unfortunate creatures and take them into care.

Things
were no better at Hellesøy - I put one of the two oiled
Long-tailed ducks here out of its misery with a piece of drifwood I
found lying nearby. The poor bird was so far gone that there was no
hope of survival, even if had received the proper treatment.

Yet
more victims of the oil spill.....

Great
Northern Diver are a regular winter visitor and several have been seen
in the area immediately prior to the spill - lets hope they escape the
worst of the pollution....

Great Northern Diver /
islom - another species currently at risk from the spill